Dowel-nail.



No" 642,377. Patented Jan. 30, I900.

' A. H. SMITH.

DOWEL NAIL.

(Application filed Sept. 26, 1898.)

(No Model.)

5'; Z. Fig.2 W/TNESSES 0v VENTOH By m A gram/5y,

THC Norms PETERS so. PHoTmuwa, WASNINCYON, o. c.

NITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

AMBROSE HOWARD SMITH, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOWEL-NAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,377, dated January 30, 1900.

Application filed September 26, 1898. Serial No. 692,763. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AMBROSE HOWARD SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dowel-Nails, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which Figure 1 is an edge view of my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation, and Fig. 3 shows a transverse section on line a: a; of Fig. 2.

Like letters refer to like parts in the drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce a dowel-nail from sheet or plate metal which shall be free from the disadvantages of those now in use. I am aware of the patent to Schrimer, N 0. 321,389, and of the German Patent No. 21,114, of 1882; but they do not embody the construction or advantages attained in my device, which is constructed substantially as follows, namely: I cut my said dowel-nail from nail-plate or suitable sheet metal with appropriate cutting tools or dies.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the single prong is placed, preferably, so as to be opposite an end prong and so that the said prongs abut directly upon each other, and the body a projects from one edge of said opposed prongs d, and at the outer end of said body a is a prong e in the same plane as the remaining prongs cl. The edge 9 of the body a between the prongs d e is preferred with the edge sharpened, as indicated in the broken lines, as shown in Fig. 3, because it is then comparatively easy to sink said transverse body into the wood to its opposite or outer edge, and thus allow the edges of the wood to be united without hindrance. In the dowel-nails above named no such easy course is practicable, because the transverse part of said devices midway between the oppositely-pointing prongs cannot important advantage gained in the parallel 7 planes of the sides and the wedge -shaped edges of my dowel-nails, because their form eliminates the danger of splitting the wood to a minimum degree, while, on the other hand, the capacity to firmly hold the connected parts is at its maximum power, features not heretofore attained, which are of the greatest value not only in results, but also in the great economy of construction and in the time required to use my device, thereby rendering this structure attainable and useful in very many industries, &c., which have heretofore been obliged to make use of other and far more costly and otherwise undesirable devices.

What I claim is-- A dowel-nail consisting of a transverse short fiat body provided at one end with a pair of oppositely-projecting prongs from its opposite edges and 'a single prong at its other end from one of its edges, the edge between said two prongs being a cutting edge, said parts out from sheet metal, and the cut edges of said prongs tapering toward their outer end, the single-pronged edge being adapted to receive hammer blows, substantially as specified.

AMBROSE HOl/VARD SMITH. 

